The Uncivil War

As the Trunk noted a few days ago, our good friend David Lebedoff has just written a book titled The Uncivil War. David sets out to explain the passionate division that characterizes our politics today. As he has for some years, David sees the core of the problem as the ascendancy of what he calls the “New Elite,” a self-appointed group corresponding roughly to what Thomas Sowell refers to as “the Anointed,” who do not respect democracy and believe that they are entitled to make decisions for the rest of us.
David’s book is provocative and, given the rancor of the current Presidential campaign, could hardly be more timely. His chapter titled “Rule By the Courts”–always tempting to those who mistrust democracy–is brilliant, and worth the price of the book by itself.
The most recent National Review, in addition to some kind references to Power Line, includes a lengthy review of The Uncivil War by Stanley Kurtz. Kurtz concludes:

Lebedoff has…found an original and brilliant way to illuminate contemporary politics and culture. By looking at heretofore unattended structures of social advancement and political control, he manages to make sense of our elections, our beliefs, and our culture. (The chapter on the arts is a gem.) Insofar as as Lebedoff tries to make the apparatus of social advancement the sole cause of all else, he errs; but he provides a look at modern society through a lens that is at once thoughtful, novel, and fun.

David’s perspective is an interesting one, because he spent much of his early life as a prominent leader of Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer Labor party. He was there when the Democratic Party went off the rails, and tells riveting stories about those days, and his own ultimately unsuccessful efforts to keep the Democratic Party in the mainstream. The Uncivil War, like all of his books, is a pleasure to read. It’s available in book stores and on Amazon; click on the book cover below.